Seth Friedman on the remorseless, continuing ethnic cleansing
of Palestine (2008): “In Nilin specifically as
well as in the West Bank as a whole, one thing
is certain: the drugs don't work. The idea of international
intervention is laughed at sorrowfully by Khaled and his peers. Similarly,
the aid of the Israeli courts: "An Israeli judge banned them from
continuing to build the wall here," said Khaled, "but they [the army]
couldn't care less. They're still here — and if the courts can't stop them, who
can?" The answer — as he, his son and the rest of the villagers know all too well
— is that no one can. The eyes of the world look on either benevolently (in the
case of Israel's backers in
the US
and elsewhere), or impotently; too cowed to act, too diplomatic to intervene.
Time is not on the Palestinians' side. Just as Nilin appears in its death
throes today, so too will another village tomorrow, then another, then another.
As the life of the Palestinian nation ebbs away, the best treatment on offer is
merely palliative; and even that is proving too weak to soothe their
never-ending anguish.“ [1].